Method for the optimum control of a device by way of milp, computer program for performing the method, and corresponding apparatus
OwnerChristoph Moll, Sebastian Pol +2inventors
InventorsChristoph Moll, Sebastian Pol, Markus Michael Geipel, Ingo Thon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosure relates to the optimization of a movement control of a device, wherein the device is suitable and configured for picking up objects and putting them back down. The present solution proposes to use mixed-integer linear programming methods to assign objects to target positions and to assign shipments to order pickers.
Claims23
A computer-implemented method for optimizing a movement control of a device from a plurality of devices, wherein the device is capable of and configured to pick up objects, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- creating and parameterizing an instance-specific model;
- defining an optimization problem, wherein information on a starting position and information about possible destination positions (2420, 2421, . . . ) are known for each object, wherein the starting position and/or the destination position change predictably over time, and wherein further boundary conditions are taken into consideration;
- calculating a travel curve for the device, wherein the travel curve meets at least one optimization criterion, and wherein the travel curve comprises:
- a pick-up action with approach to the starting position of the object;
- a placement action with approach to the destination position of the object;
- and optionally an approach to a starting position of a further object and an approach to a destination position of the further object until reaching an end position or stop condition:
- creating and parameterizing an instance-specific model, wherein a computer-implemented optimizer based on a mixed integer linear programming model obtained from the instance-specific model is used in a determination of the destination position for each object from a set of possible destination positions and the calculation of the travel curve resulting therefrom based on the starting and destination positions;
- and
- assigning the recognized objects to the available devices to be picked up and outputting control signals for the travel curve of the device,
- wherein the method is applied to simultaneous optimization of respective travel curves of at least two devices working in parallel from the group of devices, and
- wherein the optimization of a respective travel curve takes place based on wear of the device resulting from movement changes contained in the determined travel curve and the distance covered.
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An apparatus configured to optimize a movement control of a device from a plurality of devices, wherein the device is capable of and configured to pick up objects, the apparatus comprising:
- a controller configured to:
- define an optimization problem, wherein information on a starting position and information about possible destination positions are known for each object, wherein the starting and destination positions change their position predictably over time, wherein further boundary conditions are taken into consideration;
- calculate a travel curve for the device, wherein the travel curve meets at least one optimization criterion, and wherein the travel curve includes multiple operations comprising:
- approaching starting position and destination position, picking up the object, and placing the object, until reaching an end position or stop condition, wherein a computer-implemented optimizer based on a mixed integer linear programming model obtained from a instance-specific model is used for determining a destination position for each object from the possible destination positions and calculating the travel curve resulting therefrom based on the starting and destination positions;
- and
- assign the recognized objects to the available devices to be picked up and outputting control signals for the travel curve of the device,
- wherein the controller is configured to conduct a simultaneous optimization of respective travel curves of at least two devices working in parallel from the group of devices, and
- wherein the optimization of a respective travel curve takes place based on wear of the device resulting from movement changes contained in the determined travel curve and the distance covered.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.